Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Well I figured I may as well start a build thread. I started a bit early since I found someone willing to buy my low mile LG4. I just had a baby so it will make this a long build through the winter I am sure lol.

is because Déjà vu is built a 370ci LS turbo swapped 1987 Iroc before, spun a bearing and parted the entire car for a C5 FRC vette. Well about 3 years later I decided to sell the FRC and recoup some cash planning to build a 67 Chevelle Pro touring etc. Well in that time we bought a new house that needed to be filled up and decided to start trying for a baby. I made my wife a deal. I get to buy another 3rd gen that is running/driving under $5000 and she can get her baby. Needless to say I already had a few picked out so later that week bought a low mile clean 1987 Z28 for $4000cdn. Bone stock LG4/700. I ripped it apart instantly and focused on suspension/rims/Brakes since that was one thing I wanted to do to my 87 Iroc-z. in the mean time I picked up a complete 4.8L but later on sold it and found a killer deal on a 2005 Gen3 5.3 (bigger rods) and slowly kept buying swap parts.

Suspension/Brakes consists of….

Koni Yellows (all 4 corners)
Ground Control Weight Jacks (850f/175r)
UMI Adjustable Panhard
UMI LCA’s
Custom Panhard relocation (I made it)
Custom Torque arm using a BMR track pack crossover bar (I made it)
Strange 9" Detroit True Trac 3.50 rear with LT1 Brakes
2004 Z06 Front brakes (I made the brackets/hubs/modded spindles)
Earls Braided lines
Poly bushings everywhere
Line Loc/Prop valve


Engine

2005 5.3 (110k miles)
LS6 Cam
LS1 Intake
LS2 timing chain
China Head studs
Melling pump
Fbody pan
Corvette Accessories with ATI Damper (also an amazing deal I couldn’t pass up)
Spohn Mounts
4L80e
PI 3800 Triple Disk

Turbo setup

Forward Truck manifolds modded myself
2.250 - 14 gauge Mild Steel piping
2.250 Self aligning V-bands
“ebay” GT45 69mm turbo (for now, plans on upgrading to a T4 S475)
EMUSA 31x12x4 Intercooler
Twin Tial MVs 38mm Gates
RPS 50mm BOV
4” stainless to 3.5” exhaust (the car is already 3.5” from the trans back, I did that last winter)

Here are a few shots of before/after suspension then current modding process.

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Here are some of the current process, I made the T4 flange and bracket, it will be spaced out 1/2" forward

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Some of the manifolds (yes I had to cut the K-memeber like you would for an AC LS swap) For whatever reason the up loader doesnt like the picture of the passenger side with the V-band. Ill try again later.

Pre-heated/sand cooled the manifolds after welding. They welded pretty easily with my lincoln 110V

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Little more to where I'm at. Not much more work left then I can yank the motor and paint the engine bay.

Jay

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Your z28 looks clean with those zr1's!

LOL @ making a deal like that with the wife. That was awesome.

Subscribed.

rgauder

iTrader: (1)

Looks really good Jay.

cam-

Thats going to be a sweet package!

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Moved over to Power adders since this will probably be more geared toward's the build.

Thanks Cam. Im trying my best to not cut this one up lol. Hoping I can finish the hotside this week since my buddy needs his turbo back. I just borrowed it for mockup so i can buy it at a later date.

Jay

cam-

Whats the plan for fuel system? What fuel are you going to run?

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Still up in the air, I already have
1:1 boost regulator,
15' of -8an stainless braid
20' of -6an stainless braid.
-6an and -8an fittings
-6an to-8an Y fitting

So i can go either route. I plan on the fuel being the last thing on the car. Basically get the entire car complete, run all the lines to the rear and in the spring worry about dropping the tank and swapping pump (s) in

Debating twin 255's again or a Single 400. Just going to run 91 and probably 110 at the track.

A single 400 should support 600whp if I keep my base pressure down to 40psi and can make 600whp on 15lbs.

Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Just need to pick up another vband and add the wastegates somewhere....still debating where since the X02 44s are so big. I may just bite the bullet and pick up some smaller ones and sell the x02s. I knew I shoulda kept the two precison 39s I had for my vette .

debating whether to put one wastegate off on the drivers side the the passenger one out under the turbo. I gonna have to order a CSR straight thermostat housing also.

Jay

IROCgiraffe

iTrader: (3)

Great build... LOVE those ZR1's on a 3rd Gen

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Im going to have to get a good photo with the rad in....debating cutting the rad support (top) and putting a short rad in. Having a tough time deciding as I wanna paint the engine bay in the next couple weeks but dont wanna cut this car up! im gonna get a good look at the stock rad and see if I can plug the overflow nipple and drill/tap a new one on the side. It appears to be in the way if I want to run any kind of filter on the turbo. I think I have around 4-5 inches from the inlet to the rad.

Hoping I can make some progress this weekend. Bare with me as this may be a long build lol

Jay

vortec350s10

Pulling up a seat.

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

well I bolted the rad in with the stock isolators etc. Its a bit closer than I thought but I think it will be okay for a street with a coupler or a tight radius bend on it.

Im going to cut the stock over flow nipple off and plug it and drill and tap a new nipple on the opposite side. Worst case it doesnt work and I toss an aluminum rad in lol.

Jay

Clayton91

O_O that is a big turbo lol

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Ya told ya it was physically a big bitch lol. I plan on going Borg warner S475 (T4) eventually so figured I would design my kit around the GT45 since its similar size. I think the borg compressor is a bit bigger which wont really matter that much. Other then for my filter issues.

Yanked the motor hopefully for the last time to get the harness done and engine bay painted. Hoping I can get it back in before November! Getting cold around here so need to lay this paint down!

Jay

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Looks good! Congrats on new build! I would have turbo'd that frc! Love c5's

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Ya I regret selling it all the time. Just couldnt justify making payments and building it. Plus with moving at the time of me selling it, it just made sense. My wife even regrets letting me sell it lol. But then again we would never enjoy it together with a baby. At least I can strap the baby in the Z28 and bring her to a car show.

For ***** this was my FRC....

Jay

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Nice...is that the wife? Lol

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Na a buddy that does photography was doing shoots with her. Never did mention that shoot to my wife lol. Lots of photos where that one came from lol


This would be the wife making giving the perfect pose for our engagement photos of what she thinks about me and the cars lol.

Jay

cam-

Regret? Bah, more the merrier. You had it, now your building something better, and cooler too I might add. Vettes carry that mid life crisis stigma and Camaros are cool again nowadays and most likely going to stay that way unless GM REALLY blows it again lol.

But I have to say the C5 FRC is my fav.... just saying. I know one day I'll have one, you know.... mid life

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Ya I did the mid life thing real early. So many people are like I fear what your midlife crises will be lol. My obtainable dream car is still a 96-97 blue/white stripe GTS, which was going to be a thing after the vette until we upgraded to a much bigger home lol.

Jay

cam-

Tony has one of those now ( LS1tech founder ) he loves it. I just cant personally do the Dodge thing, too many of those Dodge weirdos around my town growing up, left a permanently bad impression on the whole brand LOL.

Clayton91

Ehhhh O_o well your pic's are very helpful man, keep it up. Already given me a idea of what Im going to be dealing with

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Hoping to have a good update this weekend. Last weekend I wire wheeled the engine bay, cut the front bumper for the intercooler and finished cutting the K-member for the clearance needed. I also have the engine harness 3/4 complete.

Little worried about the Spohn mounts. They seem to have a ton of bolt clearance. I would hate to bolt them down and the motor wont line up. I really dont wanna pull the control arms to get to the nuts. Currently I have access to the nuts since I cut the K-member for clearance. Maybe Ill drill an access hole or something.

Jay

IROCgiraffe

iTrader: (3)

Wife's face in that photo.... seems legit

rgauder

iTrader: (1)

nadda

Speedfreak391

iTrader: (1)

I have some of the same fitment problems with the radiator in my car. turbo headers are really close to the over flow nipple. I will be following this build, seems like there is a lot of turbo ls's going into the 3rd gens as of late. I am hoping to get my car to my home asap. Since I moved to florida from Michigan and my car is still in Michigan.

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Ahh I was reading through your build on MI F-body. Did you ever get the car running? Im gonna assume it was yours since one Michigan and white/gold

Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

well not as far as I wanted to get this weekend but its progress none the less.

Jay

No idea why they loaded sideways. dumb phone pics lol

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Well the engine bay is painted and the Harness is like 90% complete. Just needs loom and to fuse/relay it once I have the motor in.

Ill try to get some updates this weekend at some point. Hoping I can finish welding up the K-member and paint the K and steering box.

Good news is my buddy just bought a Tig welder so i may pick up all the intercooler piping and whatnot and try to get that out of the way in the next month or so before its brutally cold here and I stop working on it. I really need a heater in my garage. My old house had detached garage so I used a propane industrial blower/heater. Dont feel comfortable doing that in the new place.

Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Well another project Im working on in may spare time. Just waiting for some Holiday Sales at speedhut to order up the gauges. Litter peek of what I may be building. Center display will be displaying....

Oil Pressure
Oil Temp
Trans Temp
Coolant Temp
Boost/Map
Intake Temp
TPS
EGT

I also plan on running the Innovate SCG-1 (boost/afr failsafe with Boost control)

355sleeper

iTrader: (4)

Sounds like you are still planning a lot of the build. It looks like a good budget build. The only thing I see holding you back is cam ( it will do well but leaves a lot on the table) and converter. It is really critical and sadly there is no cheap converter, especially if you want to lock up under wot, which I recommend

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

ya all things that will get changed next winter. Just getting it running on low boost this summer coming to work out kinks. I didn't wanna put a 1100 converter in a used questionable trans.

Jay

355sleeper

iTrader: (4)

That's what made me buy a jakes, I didn't want to risk the same thing. You got it figured out though. Best of luck to you bud!

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Well I got a full garage night last night. I was able to finish the K-member notches which was a pita, then slap a coat of paint on it and the steering box.

Welded the O2 bungs on the hotside

Put the pushrods/rockers and new gaskets in the valve covers.

Drilled and tapped the front cover. Which i will need to plug and move. Didnt realize the oil pump bolts were directly behind the 4 bosses on the front cover. There is still room for the oil to drain, but I figure I will play it safe, plug it and move it down. Should be enough space.

I also start to run the headlight harness, but for the life of me I can recall how it ran. Gonna have to do some digging lol. Somehow I am ending up like like 1 foot of extra wire in the center.

Hoping the motor will be sitting in the bay this weekend. Then I will need to make a massive summit and ebay order so i can finish off the hot side and cold side.

Also my Maxi-Gauge is done. He added *F to the values.

james run (maxidisplay) - YouTube

james setup - YouTube

Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Well any progress is progress I suppose..... Hoping by this weekend I can pickup all the rest of my parts so I can get the rad in and finish the hot side and figure out wastegate placement

Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Well its starting to take shape. Hoping I get some time to finish the hotside this weekend and get the turbo drain wrapped up. Lots of parts came in to keep me busy.

I also picked up a 3" Cast elbow. So I will be cutting the large odd ball sized outlet on the turbo and welding the cast elbow to it. I could get away with a flex coupler there but I'm trying to stay away from using any 90* couplers.

I Must say I wasn't expecting a pretty polished cover on the turbo. So who cares if its junk, looks pretty LOL


Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Modified the original crossover a tad. It was a tad higher then the pipe I welded off of the flange. Also decided to pull it away from the ATI balancer for piece of mind. I finished welding it before work this morning but here is an idea. Just need to add the gates and paint/wrap it up.

Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Well no pics worth taking. I have been slacking since I was debating buying smaller gates (physically)

Well Black Friday is here... Race Parts Solution has a great 20% off sale.

Ordered my Siemens EV1 80lb injectors
(2) Tial MVs 38mm's
(1) Race Parts Solution 50mm BOV

Oh and I ordered all my gauges for my cluster. So im sure aroudn Xmas time I should have some more progress pics!

Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Sorry guys been a slow process lately. Working tons and really havnt been in the mood to go outside and freeze lol

Gates, BOV, Injectors and some other small items came in. Still waiting on speedhut to finish up my gauges. So far one of my gates are welded on. I was going to mount them with the tops up and side by side but I feel with a 90 degree up into the gate they wouldnt have been as efficient.. here is an idea of how they will both sit. Im hoping tonight the other will be welded up then I can yank the hotside and wrap it all.

I also ordered a 3" Aluminum V band for the GT45. Im going to cut the large 3.35" exit off and weld a Vband and a 90" cast elbow on it so i dont have the cut or hammer my car up. Only thing that should be cut for the cold side is the battery tray.

Jay

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Got the second wastegate welded in. Hoping to paint it and wrap it tonight/tomorrow.

Jay

vortec350s10

Looking good!

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

No real big process since I need to get the trans in. I have decided to get the trans "built" and probably going to go with a PTC converter. I yanked the pan and the fluid was black. So I called a local guy who worked for GM in the trans department and was a forman iirc so he builds pretty well everyones trans local. Told me $800cdn for a complete rebuilt (new clutches, seals, bushings etc) assuming all hard parts are good. I will also be putting the HD2 shift kit in it.

Hoping to get the trans in the car this week, hopefully Friday night for mockup and over the holidays I can build a trans cross member.

Also STILL waiting on my damn speedhut gauges I ordered over a month ago.... I was hoping to build the cluster over the holidays.

Jay

Kyle86

iTrader: (1)

Lookin real good Jay!!! That gt45 with the polished compressor housing looks SWEET! You won't be disappointed with it, mine is holding up like a tank even with no BOV. Can't wait to see you finish so you can enjoy it!

86trbota

nice work as usual jay! you cant go wrong with ptc! i absolutely love mine and they are awesome people to work with.

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

Well didnt really get anything done over the holidays. Way too many turkey dinners lol. I did however get the trans bolted up and its being held up by the jack. Trying to figure out what angle to set it at. If I set it to 3 degrees tail down it appears I will have ground clearance issues! The pan looked tyo be level if not lower with the hump on my BMR track pak bar which as is I cant fit a beer can sideways under it. I did hammer the trans tunnel a bit where the humps on the trans are and if I jack the trans up all the way to basically touching I can get 0 degrees. I think I will make my trans mount to set the trans to around -1 to -2 degrees then shim the trans mount if I need to bring the trans up.

I also messed with fuel lines and gave up on those PTFE fittings and ordered all new fittings and line today for the rails. (180 degree's and whatnot) so big waste of cash. ended up spending another $210 on new line and fittings to do it :s. All that just to make it look proper. I already had all the teflon stainless braided and crush fittings to do it another way but didnt want it to look half *** lol (prior to buying PFTE fittings).

I will be picking my gauges up this week as well as the fuel fittings, so I should have some updates by the weekend.

Jay

Chris Etemadi

Great progress! I have been stalking this thread on here for a bit.

I like where you have positioned the turbo. How similar are the Gt45's to the T4 S400's? I have a T6 S475 on the way that I am looking to attempt to locate in about that area if possible. The front mount would be a last resort type of thing.

You should have no issues at -1°/-2°. My 5.3/4L80E is sitting at -2.5° with no issues. Many factory engines with live rear axles are set at -2/-3 anyways. Keep in mind that the BMR cross member is almost in the dead center between the wheels, so it is more likely to kiss the ground when driving over speed bumps etc.

BTW the Maxigauges look sweet! Are they working on the display for you? I have experimented with an open source developer board "Arduino" that has these capabilities, I wonder if this is a spin of that platform?

Jay_rich

iTrader: (4)

From what I have seen and compared the GT45 and T4 S400 is nearly the same size. especially if the S400 has a compact cover. The standard cover is a bit bigger but wouldnt cause an issue for my location.

Ya Im hoping once I get some time to make a mount for the trans I can visualize it a bit better. I should be able to set it to around -1.5 to -2ish and still keep good ground clearance. I am also judging off the side shirts being level, which they probably are not. I think the best bet is to get it on the ground and check.

Ya its a pretty sweet gauge. Im picking up my speehuts tomorrow so I should be starting on the gauges soon. Its been pretty cold out so it would be a decent in house project!

Jay